Project Description

Problem.

Statistically speaking, one in three people will have cancer in his or her lifetime. Moreover, ~ 30% of cancer diagnoses and treatment plans are incorrect. If there’s any moment in your life when you want to be absolutely certain, it is when you are diagnosed with cancer.

It can take weeks or months to reach an oncologist. Imagine the stress, worry and fear of trying to find the right information and the right oncologists when cancer cells are growing exponentially in your body.

We have lost family members to cancer. We would have loved to have the certainty that we were doing all the right things to ensure that our family members get the best care possible. SmartBridge Health is the solution that we wished had existed when we were going through those difficult times.

Unique solution

We challenge the notion that high-quality, accessible cancer care is either unachievable or prohibitively expensive. We’re working to prove that optimal cancer care is affordable and accessible to all. We offer a seamless experience that not only saves you time and money but also leads to better health outcomes and happier lives.

We use the brainpower of the world’s top oncologists to improve health outcomes for cancer patients. We give patients 24/7 remote access to quality-verified oncologists. We’re multilingual and HIPAA compliant.

Our passionate, curious oncologists are trained and practicing at the best cancer institutions in the world. They have incredible expertise and have significantly lowered their rates to help us cure cancer at scale.

Our business model is not brain surgery. We’re a two-sided marketplace. We connect patients with top oncologists at a fraction of the cost and charge patients directly. We take 30% and give 70% of our revenue back to our oncologists.

For $29, you receive same-day, personalized and validated answer researched and written by an oncologist. For $55, you can have a next day call with an oncologist hand-picked specifically for you. For $299, we gather and review your medical records, diagnosis and treatment plan, give recommendations based on treatment options and clinical trials in your area, and follow-up with your oncologist to explain our opinions.

Competition

We are different from our competitors. We focus only on cancer, and we are democratizing access to world-class healthcare.

We have a library of validated answers and templates for our second opinions, and are developing algorithms to quickly match patients with the best oncologists for their specific needs. With each additional customer, our unit costs plummet and our profit margins increase.

We will be the global source for real-time patient-reported outcomes to accelerate cancer research. Where one data point and one patient story and the amalgamation of stories can serve multiple purposes. One data point serving precision medicine, continuous quality improvement, driving patient education and improving biologic discovery.

Traction

We have partnered with ZERO Prostate Cancer to become a trusted source for optimal cancer care. We will be incorporated into the #1 cancer management app with 30,000 users and are participating in the Inova Personalized Health Accelerator Training Program. Team

Hua is a former lawyer and healthcare strategy consultant at Accenture. Dr. Force is an oncologist and faculty at the Duke Cancer Institute. Dr. Mecoli is a physician and faculty at Johns Hopkins. Paul was part of a leadership team that took a startup from idea to IPO.

Investment & Use of funds

We are the team to execute on our road map for reaching 1,000 customers in the next year and create a B2B solution covered by insurance companies and employers.

Updates

The Project FAQs

Risks

Innovation is not without its risks. SmartBridge Health have worked hard to establish a model that not only performs above expectations for those who most need it, the patients, but is as resilient as possible for its shareholders. We have identified a small number of limited risks affecting the SmartBridge Health initiative, including patient confidentiality, information accuracy and user take-up. We plan to meticulously address these risks by testing a prototype within a research study in the hospital environment, ensuring all risks are minimized

Patient confidentiality (low risk, high impact)

SmartBridge Health will be diligent in maintaining an appropriate level of patient confidentiality to overcome any risk of data theft. We will ensure we respect patient’s rights regarding privacy and confidentiality. ‘Confidentiality’ and ‘Terms & Conditions’ disclaimers have been developed. All patient data used by Institutions for research purposes will be de-identified.

Accuracy of patient information (low risk, high impact)

When a patient is facing nothing but uncertainty what helps them most is accurate, timely and appropriate medical information that is relevant to them and as up to date as possible. This is why we’ve collaborated with Inova and ZERO Prostate Cancer to become a trusted source for optimal cancer care. In this way we have insured that all the information provided is pre-reviewed and medically reliable helping to ease the burden of worry on patients and their caregivers.

User Take-up (low risk, medium impact)

Given the minimal direct competition to SmartBridge Health, there is a very small risk of low user take-up. However we’re committed to building a comprehensive marketing and awareness program so we reach and help as many patients as possible. In parallel we’ll build recognition within the oncology community to ensure success for our stakeholders. We will use data mining strategies and comprehensive questionnaires among users ensuring we are constantly improving and having distribution through institutions, research groups, specialists and charities to raise awareness among the cancer community.

Increased consultation times (medium risk, low impact)

SmartBridge Health will very quickly improve patient/clinician interaction as it minimizes the consult times due to the constant patient data analysis. However, there is a low risk of a one-off increased consultation time between patient and clinician while they discuss how we can help the patient and their carers. By supplying educational seminars for clinicians and their staff and speaking with clients, this risk is extremely low.

Longevity (low-risk, medium impact)
With our program of constant innovation through feedback and research, SmartBridge Health will stay the most current source of information available and will be used by the oncology communities for many years. With our overarching goal of democratizing access to optimal cancer care we believe SmartBridge Health will be a sustainable platform for both users and customers.

Clinician take-up (low-risk, medium impact) Although multi-faceted, SmartBridge Health’s primary target is the cancer patient as end user. To address any risk of clinicians not advocating us we have had input from over 70 cancer specialists in its content and design to make sure it works for them and their colleagues across all environments.

Cancer Support (low-risk, medium impact)

SmartBridge Health will have a cancer support team to assist patient and carer users followed by phone support in 2017. If users have questions relating to their diagnosis, treatment or experience, we aims to provide support and service at every turn.

Exit Strategy
The future value of the business is likely to be considerable especially if the business takes advantage of the planned international expansion opportunities. A main market listing would realistically command at least a multiple of 10 given the sector and global scope. This would lead to an exit evaluation between $7-15M. Alternatively a trade sale is a probable alternative given the recent consolidation in the health space.